A teen girl who killed her mother says she does not remember shooting her dead in their home, a court has heard.
Carly Gregg, 15, is fighting murder charges with an insanity defense after she shot her mother Ashley Smylie dead and attempted to kill her stepfather in their Mississippi home back in March.
Gregg was in the middle of a mental health crisis and does not remember shooting her math teacher mother, psychiatrist Andrew Clark said as he testified in the teen’s defense Wednesday.
Dr Clark said he believes Gregg ‘blacked out’ for up to 90 minutes on the day of the shooting, as she claimed that her memory went blank after she let the dogs out.
The court heard that Gregg had used marijuana up until at least the day prior to the alleged incident. She had also been prescribed Lexapro and Zoloft – both medications for mood disorders.
Carly Gregg, 15, is fighting murder charges with an insanity defense after she shot her mother Ashley Smylie dead and attempted to kill her stepfather in their Mississippi home
Smylie had confronted the teen about her marijuana use on the way home from school the day she was killed, psychiatrist Andrew Clark said
Gregg reportedly to the psychiatrist that she’d had ‘auditory hallucinations’ for years prior to the killing, but the voices in her head had never ‘commanded’ her to do anything.
‘She was having mood issues, eating disorder issues, cutting herself, hearing voices and sleeping difficulty all leading up to January of 2024,’ Dr Clark told the court.
Smylie had confronted the teen about her marijuana use on the way home from school the day she was killed, Dr Clark said.
According to Dr Clark, the teen had begun smoking marijuana about six weeks before she shot her 40-year-old mother dead. She had reportedly also been struggling with new medications.
‘And then, her mother finds out she’s smoking marijuana,’ Dr Clark said. ‘For Carly, in particular, she so cared about her mother’s approval, so for her, this was a crisis.’
Harrowing footage of Carly Gregg casually wandering around her kitchen has been played in court during her murder trial in Mississippi this week
Gregg’s mother, 40-year-old math teacher Ashley Smylie was fatally shot in the face
The teen had a ‘close, yet complicated relationship’ with her mother and a loving bond with her stepfather, per Dr Clark. Gregg’s relationship with her biological father, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was more problematic.
Gregg was filmed casually walking around her kitchen, playing on her mobile phone and texting a friend just moments after shots were fired.
Prosecutors allege that after shooting her mother dead, Gregg used the teacher’s cellphone to text her stepfather Heath in an effort to lure him home.
A text message sent from Smylie’s phone to Heath read: ‘When will you be home honey?’
When Heath returned home, police allege Gregg shot at him, hitting him once in the shoulder.
The court heard Heath wrestled the gun from Gregg before she could shoot him again, prompting her to flee the scene.
Gregg faces 20 years to life in prison if convicted.
She turned down a deal with the prosecution that would have seen her serve 40 years in prison.
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